How To Eat Healthy On A Busy Schedule

A lot of people ask me, “Sarah, how can I eat healthy when I’m so flippin’ busy?!”. I know how hard it can be to figure out how to eat healthy on a busy schedule. But don’t you fret, cause I’m rounding up some tips that will help you out.

When it comes to eating healthy, the reality is that it needs to be a priority. Just like dating, no matter how busy you are, you can make time for someone you truly care about. If you truly care about your health and your diet, you will make time to fit these practices into your schedule.

How To Eat Healthy On A Busy Schedule

Choose one day to meal prep your lunch and dinner (especially soups)

Again, no matter how busy you are, you can make time to prep meals for the work week. Some of my friends and clients choose to do this on Sunday night, as it’s typically the night that many of us stay in and binge watch Netflix. So while you have your favorite TV shows on, you can whip out your apron and start prepping your meals for the week. Some of my favorite recipes to make ahead of time are soups and stews, chili, plant-based casseroles, and enchiladas. You can peruse our recipes on here as many of them are great for making ahead of time.

Cook recipes in large quantities to save leftovers

This goes hand in hand with tip number one. As you prepare your meals for the week, double the recipe so that you can save and freeze any leftovers you have. This will save you even more time in the kitchen and free up your week to accomplish other tasks such as making your way to the gym.

Whip out that slow cooker

If meal prepping isn’t your thing or you just really don’t like planning ahead, befriend a slow cooker. I have at least four Crock-Pot Slow Cooker recipes here that you can make, and they are all either vegetarian or vegan! Using a slow cooker to make your meals saves you time because you can simply throw all the ingredients in the pot, move on with other tasks, and a few hours later your meal is ready!

Have pre-portioned smoothies ready to go

I’m definitely a morning juice or smoothie girl, but chopping fruits and veggies every morning can be a real pain. To save time doing this and to ensure that you’re getting fresh produce in your system first thing in the morning, I love having pre-portioned smoothie packages on hand. One brand that I recently came across that I tried and enjoy is Frozen Garden.These ready-to-blend green smoothies help get a great variety of different produce into your diet without you having to figure out different recipes all the time. This company sources locally, uses non-GMO produce, and hand-crafts all their blends. Even their packaging is BPA free and recyclable! Oh, and it was also created by three rad girl-bosses.

Become obsessed with a salad bar near you

For days that you forgot to plan ahead or you really just have to live minute-to-minute, find a Whole Foods or a grab and go spot with a salad bar near where you work. Soups and salads are always a great lunch option, and you can definitely be creative and add versatility to your diet when you have a salad bar nearby.

If you get stumped on what types of salads to make, you can check out this article on go-to salad ingredients.Sometimes I even like to look up salad recipes online and use them as inspiration when I make my way to the salad bar. Typically I always make sure that I have fiber, protein, and healthy fats in my salads.

Trim down your ingredients

When it comes to meal prepping or making your lunch or dinner each day, don’t get all tied up with 10+ ingredients. There are so many recipes out there that use between 3-6 ingredients, it will truly make your life easier. When eating on the go, you don’t have to be a master chef. Make simple things like a hummus + avocado quesadilla, literally using only hummus, avocado, and a tortilla. Or even rice and beans, or a package of frozen stir fry veggies, chicken or tempeh, and light sodium soy sauce or amino acids. You can really simplify recipes while still enjoying flavor, you just have to do the research.

Keep healthy snack foods in your office

This one may be obvious, but I have to inform you anyways. Always have healthy snacks on hand during the day so that you don’t get so hungry and fall victim to your cravings and rush to the vending machine. I like having pistachios, cashews, or fruit on hand DAILY!

Outsource your shopping or meal delivery

If you truly want to free up your time while still eating healthy, have someone else do the grocery shopping for you. There are many different grocery delivery companies like Instacart that will deliver same day. Even though you have to pay a little bit more for services like these, it will save you time to accomplish other tasks. There are also meal delivery services like Eat Purely (here in Chicago) that have healthy options and will deliver their meals in 20 minutes flat. The options are endless and now that our world is so tech forward, you can literally outsource ANYTHING.

So next time you tell yourself, “Oh I’m too busy to eat healthy”. Come back to this article and get your butt in the kitchen, and prep!

This post is in partnership with Frozen Garden. All opinions and writing is my own.